Rumors
by Artdirector123
Summary: For my guard dog AU series where Dolcetto survives and becomes a royal guard to Ling. There's gossip at every job, but it seems among new recruits, Dolcetto's back story always seems to be the topic of interest.


The wind whistled in the dark night as dusk had finally fell. The capital city had become quiet as the moon rose high in the sky. Things were equally quiet around the palace, with not a single soul active outside the outermost walls. Guards posted along it kept watch of the area below, making sure no suspicious figure approached...that is except for one group. One group of guards taking a break inside one of the towers, green with their brand new uniforms that had never seen a battle yet, sat around a small portable iron stove that crackled with an orange flame. For most of them, this was only their third week on the job. They had been overseen by a senior guard every single night so far, and for the past three their supervisor was none other than the Amestrian that had returned with the emperor over seven years ago. Everyone knew of him and most veteran or experienced guards were used to him. But Every time a new batch of guards joined their ranks, the rumor mill started cranking out more gossip again. Few outside the palace knew about what happened in Amestris other than the emperor found the secret to immortality, so the Amestrian was an enigma to them. Where had he come from? How did he know the emperor? How had he become so skilled in swordsmanship?

So new recruits constantly found themselves guessing and falling prey to the same silly rumors fed to them by older guards every time.

"Seriously though, he's incredibly skilled. He can't sense chi and yet he tell whenever an enemy is approaching him and track someone down like nothing! Plus he's extremely strong and fast," one of the recruits named Ming said, "I heard he was able to hold off a group of assassins for literal hours once before he was worn out. How does one get like that?"

"I bet he's been fighting his whole life," Gou responded, stretching his hands behind his head, "I wouldn't be surprised if he was a mercenary before this or something."

"No way!" Jun responded, standing up, "How can you say such a thing? He's spent many years loyally defending Emperor Ling. There's no way he was some lowly mercenary. He's so strong because he was a soldier in the Amestrian military. Hung told me that."

"Yeah...and that has nothing to do with the fact you have the hots for him," Chao said, rolling his eyes.

Jun balked at him. "Wh-what?!"she sputtered in shock, "What the heck are you talking about? I've barely met the man!"

"Don't play dumb, we all know you obsess over all things Amestrian," Chao said with a smirk, "We can smell your nasty attempts at making Amestrian food from down the hall. And don't think any of us haven't seen that bag of yours that has the Amestrian flag on it."

She glowered at him. "Having an appreciation for Amestrian culture, which that is all that is, has nothing to do with this! If I was so obsessed with it, I wouldn't be here, now would I? I would have taken a one way train their a long time ago,"she said, crossing her arms.

"I don't know, maybe you just wanted to get close to the guy," Chao said with a smirk.

Jun was now fuming and he laughed at her. That is until Gou smacked him upside the head.

"Hey, leave her alone!"he snapped, "You have no reason to poke fun at her personal life." Jun smiled at him and Chao grimaced as he rubbed the back of his head. "Although, I highly doubt that story," Gou admitted, "Or at least that he stayed in the military. A lot of others say before the emperor found him, he was part of some kind of gang. Course those could just be rumors."

"Are those those same rumors that say he used to work for a demon, and made a contract with one to get super powers?" Ming said raising an eyebrow, "Because I don't buy that for a second."

"I'd believe it," Laquan piped up, an anxious look in his eyes. He was the most experienced of the group as he had been there for a few months longer than the others, "I don't know about you, but I've noticed some strange things about that guy. Besides what Ming said, I've seen his teeth flash and I swore they were sharpened to a point." He then leaned in close to the group. "On top of that, on one of my past night shifts I've seen his eyes glow in the dark like a wild beasts!"

"PSSSH! Yeah right!" Chao scoffed, "You we're probably just seeing things."

"I'm not making it up!" Laquan snapped, "I've seen it with my own eyes! There is something not human about that man."

Chao shrugged as he leaned back. "Maybe he was raised by wolves. It would explain why he always smells like wet dog," he said, "I heard that the emperor found him in the woods sleeping in the dirt and living off the land. I heard the emperor had to civilize him."

"That's ridiculous!" Jun said, "There was no way he was some wild man. How did he learn how to sword fight?"

"Maybe the emperor taught him," he continued smirking.

Jun glared at him. "Now you're just messing with us," she scoffed.

"Am I?"he said, sitting up, "I don't know the truth, I'm just repeating what I've heard. I don't see why you're so offended by my speculation. Or does your little crush on him make you get upset anytime anyone says anything against him?"

Jun was now seething as she stormed over and grabbed him by his shirt. "WHY YOU-!" she growled, ready to punch him.

"I heard he doesn't like people talking about him behind his back. Almost as much as he hates it when his subordinates cause trouble for no reason." They all froze and turned slowly to see Dolcetto standing in the doorway. He scowled at them all in annoyance and irritation with his arms crossed expectantly. "Your break ended five minute ago. Get back on shift," he said in a low voice. The six saluted before scurrying out of the tower as quickly as they could back into position. He sent a warning glare Chao's way as he passed, gesturing he was keeping his eyes on him. The twenty year old flinched before he hurried past the dog chimera.

Dolcetto glared at him before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. There were three main things that he despised about his job: Night shifts, mouthy newbies, and the endless rumor mill, and now he was dealing with all three in one night. Sometimes the rumors were mildly amusing, but they always made him nervous when they got a bit too close to the truth. Thankfully, no one had gotten really close yet, and the few people who did know would never tell anyone. Although he was definitely going to have to be more careful in hiding his more canine attributes…

Dolcetto sighed. This was going to be a long, awkward, and tedious night, and the next day was going be even longer. Especially considering the fact that he was going to have to track down whoever started the "raised by wolves" story. That one was just plain mean, after all. He did not smell like wet dog...did he?


End file.
